Denison
Daily News
Tuesday Morning, March 4, 1879
pg. 1
BRUTAL MURDER
The City Marshal of Whitesboro Killed
Saturday afternoon two men from the
country, who were somewhat intoxicated,
created a disturbance in a saloon at
Whitesboro. The proprietor used his best
endeavors to quell the disturbance, but in
vain, and at last called Mr. Ayers, the city
marshal, who happened to be in the
neighborhood. Ayers arrested the most
turbulent of the 2, and while leading him out
of the saloon to take him to jail, the other
slipped up behind the Marshal, and with a
chair, struck him over the head, breaking his
skull. Ayers died Sunday morning at 1
o'clock. The murderer was promptly
arrested and placed in jail.
The death of Mr. Ayers is deeply
regretted by the people of Whitesboro, as he
was an efficient officer and an amiable
gentleman. The feeling against the
murderer was intense and we learn that the
threats of lynching were at one time freely
indulged in.
Denison Daily News.
(Denison, Tex.),
Wednesday, March 5, 1879
R C Ayers, the city marshal of Whitesboro
for about two years, who was brutally
murdered by the Weir Brothers Saturday, was
a native of the State of Georgia, and has
been a res dent of Whitesboro for about two
years. He was universally respected and
esteemed by all who knew him, being a young
man of exemplary habits and strictly
honorable. As an officer he was fearless in
the discharge of his duties, and by his
death Whitesboro has lost an officer whom to
replace will be indeed hard.
The city council of Whitesboro, as soon as
his death was known, immediately held a
special meeting, and after passing proper
resolutions, expressing their regrets at the
cruel death of this good and true officer,
ordered the purchase of the finest metallic
casket which could be procured in Sherman,
and made the necessary arrangements to send
his remains to his mother in Georgia.
The parties concerned in the murder, who
were arrested at once, except for Spence
Weir, who escaped, though wounded by
Constable Love, who struck him over the head
with a revolver, where taken to Sherman jail
Monday.
Desperadoes
Kill a Marshall
Special telegram to the News.
Sherman - March 12, 1879
K C (R C) Ayers,
Marshall of Whitesboro, a rapidly growing
town in this county to which the Denison and
Pacific railroad is newly completed, was,
last Saturday afternoon, curly murdered
while arresting some reckless characters who
had come in , as they said, to run the town.
Three of the roughs are named Weir, and
reside four miles north of Whitesboro. One
of the Weirs knocked Ayers down with a
chair, whereupon constable Love felled Weir
with a revolver. Pat Weir, one of the
brothers, then took up the broken chair and
struck Ayers, who had risen to his feet,
with the seat, cutting a terrible gash and
prostrating him at the desperado's
feet. Miraculously as it may seem Ayers
again regained his feet and assisted in
conveying two of the Weirs and several of
the other roughs to the calaboose. After the
excitement incident to the melee, he
complained bitterly of his head, he was
taken home and at one o'clock Sunday morning
he died of concussion of the brain. He was
an exemplary young man, who knew his duty
and dared to perform it. The council of
Whitesboro immediately met in a special
session, passed an order for a fine metallic
casket, had him placed in it, and this
afternoon his remains passed through to go
by express to his aged mother in Troupe
county, Ga. One of the Weir boys escaped,
but being badly injured by the constable, it
is thought he will be captured.
The Galveston Daily
News,
Tues, March 11, 1879
Pat Weir,
charged with dealing a fatal blow to Ayers,
marshall of Whitesboro, was examined on
habeas corpus this evening and held to bail
in the sum of $1500.
The Galveston Daily News
Tue, Apr 22, 1880
Grayson County -
The case of Pat Wear (Weir) for assisting in
the murder of Ayers, the late city Marshall of
Whitesboro has been continued.
